Long fatigue life nitinol

ABSTRACT

A high fatigue life superelastic nickel-titanium (nitinol) wire, ribbon, sheet, tubing, or the like is disclosed. The nitinol has a 54.5 to 57.0 weight percent nickel with a balance of titanium composition and has less than 30 percent cold work as a final step after a full anneal and before shape setting heat treatment. Through a rotational beam fatigue test, fatigue life improvement of 37 percent has been observed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing asuperelastic metal alloy having improved fatigue life. In particular,the present invention relates to a long fatigue life nickel-titaniumalloy wire, ribbon, tubing, or sheet.

There has been great interest in shape memory and superelastic alloyssuch as nickel-titanium. This family of alloys, also known as nitinol(i.e., Nickel-Titanium Naval Ordinance Laboratory) is typically madefrom a nearly equal composition of nickel and titanium. Key toexploiting the performance of nitinol alloys is the phase transformationin the crystalline structure that transitions between an austeniticphase and a martensitic phase. The austenitic phase is commonly referredto as the high temperature phase, and the martensitic phase is commonlyreferred to as the low temperature phase. The back and forth phasechanges is the mechanism for achieving superelasticity and the shapememory effect.

As the name implies, shape memory means that the alloy can be twistedinto a particular shape in the martensitic phase, and when heated to theaustenitic phase, the metal returns to its remembered shape. Incontrast, superelasticity refers to the ultra high elastic behavior ofthe alloy under stress. Typical reversible strains of up to 8 percentelongation can be achieved in a superelastic nitinol wire as compared to0.5 percent reversible strain in a steel wire, for example. Thissuperelasticity appears in the austenitic phase when stress is appliedto the alloy and the alloy changes from the austenitic phase to themartensitic phase. This particular martensitic phase is more preciselydescribed as stress-induced martensite (SIM), which is unstable attemperatures above A_(f) (the austenitic finish) temperature. As such,if the applied stress is removed, the stress-induced martensite revertsback to the austenitic phase. It is understood that this phase change iswhat enables the characteristic recoverable strains achievable insuperelastic nitinol.

Nitinol was originally developed by the military, but has found its wayinto many commercial applications. Applications that utilize the shapememory effect of the alloy include pipe couplings, orthodontic wires,bone staples, etc. Products that exploit the superelasticity of nitinolinclude, for example, antennas and eye glass frames.

The medical device industry has also found many uses for nitinol.Nitinol has been used to fabricate guide wires, cardiac pacing leads,prosthetic implants such as stents, intraluminal filters, and toolsdeployed through a cannula, to name a few. Such devices are taught in,for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,665,906; 5,067,957; 5,190,546; 5,597,378;6,306,141; and 6,533,805 to Jervis; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,486,183; 5,509,923;5,632,746; 5,720,754; 5,749,879; 5,820,628; 5,904,690; 6,004,330; and6,447,523 to Middleman et al. An embolic filter can be made usingnitinol as shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,859 to Bates etal. Also, implantable stents have been made from nitinol as shown in,for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,810 to Brown; U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,610to Duerig. A guide wire can be made from nitinol, such as that shown inU.S. Pat. No. 5,341,818 to Abrams. Nitinol is also suitable for theconstruction of a cardiac harness for treating congestive heart failureas seen in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,912 to Lau.

It is understood that all nitinol alloys exhibit both superelasticityand the shape memory effect. To maximize the benefits of each, theindustry has developed processing techniques to control thesecharacteristics. Those processing techniques include changing thecomposition of nickel and titanium, alloying the nickel-titanium withother elements, heat treating the alloy, and mechanical processing ofthe alloy. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,354 to Fountain disclosesprocesses for producing a shape memory nitinol alloy having a desiredtransition temperature. U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,642 to DiCarlo discloses aprocess for improving ductility of nitinol. U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,244 toPelton discloses cold working and annealing a nitinol alloy to lower theA_(f) temperature. United States Publication No. US 2003/0120181A1,published Jun. 26, 2003, is directed to work-hardened pseudoelasticguide wires. U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,981 to Thoma et al. is directed to aprocess for adjusting the physical and mechanical properties of a shapememory alloy member by increasing the internal stress level of the alloyby cold work and heat treatment.

One characteristic of nitinol that has not been greatly addressed is thecyclic fatigue life. In many devices, especially in medicalapplications, that undergo cyclic forces, fatigue life is an importantconsideration. There have been papers delivered on this topic such as W.Harrison, Z. Lin, “The Study of Nitinol Bending Fatigue,” pp. 391-396;M. Reinoehl, et al., “The Influence of Melt Practice on Final FatigueProperties of Superelastic NiTi Wires,” pp. 397-403; C. Kugler, et al.,“Non-Zero Mean Fatigue Test Protocol for NiTi,” pp. 409-417; D. Tolomeo,et al., “Cyclic Properties of Superelastic Nitinol: DesignImplications,” all published by SMST-2000 Conference Proceedings, TheInternational Organization Of Shape Memory And Superelastic Technology(2001). There is, however, still a need for developing a nitinol alloythat has improved fatigue life especially suitable for medical deviceapplications.

INVENTION SUMMARY

The present invention is generally directed to a high fatigue life metalwire, ribbon, sheet, or tubing, and processes to create such forms. Inone embodiment, the high fatigue life metal wire, ribbon, sheet, ortubing comprises a core made from a binary, nickel-titanium,superelastic alloy in an ingot state having a composition ofapproximately 54.5 to 57.0 weight percent nickel with a balance oftitanium and trace elements. The nickel-titanium alloy preferably has aningot A_(f) temperature of approximately −15° C.±25° C.; and wherein themetal wire, ribbon, sheet, or tubing has undergone at least one coldwork and anneal cycle with a final cold work of less than approximately30% after a full anneal.

In a preferred embodiment, the metal wire, ribbon, sheet, or tubing hasan ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of greater than or equal toapproximately 150 ksi with an elongation at failure of greater than orequal to approximately 15%. The ultimate tensile strength and elongationspecified are as measured at a temperature of approximately 23° C.±2° C.at a strain rate of approximately 0.001/sec.

The trace elements in the nickel-titanium alloy in the ingot statepreferably include approximately less than or equal to 0.300 wt. % (3000ppm) iron, less than or equal to 0.050 wt. % (500 ppm) copper, less thanor equal to 0.050 wt. % (500 ppm) oxygen, less than or equal to 0.035wt. % (350 ppm) carbon, and less than or equal to 0.003 wt. % (30 ppm)hydrogen. Furthermore, it is preferable that any other single traceelement is less than 0.1 wt. % of the alloy. Total trace elements shouldbe less than approximately 0.4 wt. %.

Further, the cold-drawn nitinol wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing ispreferably heat treated between 450-500° C. and preferably has a finalA_(f) temperature between 26° C. and 36° C. as measured by DifferentialScanning Calorimetry (DSC).

In various alternative embodiments, the metal wire has a diameter ofapproximately 0.0050 inch to 0.0160 inch. The wire may have a round orpolygonal cross-sectional shape as with a ribbon. In accordance with thepresent invention, the high fatigue metal wire in a heat treatedcondition has a fatigue life greater than approximately 22,760 meancycles to failure at a cyclic strain level of −0.75% to +0.75% at 37° C.as measured using a rotational beam test.

The present invention high fatigue life nitinol is preferably processedfrom an ingot of the composition specified above. The ingot is coldreduced or cold worked and annealed repeatedly to preferably a wire,ribbon, sheet, or tubing form. The nitinol is then cold worked throughwire drawing, tube drawing, rolling, or like processes with interspersedanneal cycles for stress relief. As mentioned earlier, the final, afterfull anneal, cold working step is preferably limited to less thanapproximately 30% reduction in cross-sectional area to achieve thedesired long fatigue life. In contrast, conventional processing ofnitinol typically involves cold work at 35% or more.

The present invention in one embodiment limits the amount of the finalcold work which, as confirmed through empirical observations, extendsthe fatigue life of the metal wire. The wire surface can be optionallyelectropolished to further improve the fatigue life. In a wire sizearound 0.013 inch in diameter, for example, the wire fatigue life in aheat treated condition has greater than approximately 22,760 mean cyclesto failure under a rotational beam test where the tested wire issubjected to an alternating strain of ±0.75% at 37° C. By comparison,standard nitinol wires in the same size and the same heat treatmentcondition failed under the same test at about 16,560 cycles. Based onthis data, the present invention wire represents about a 37% improvementin fatigue resistance. The present invention nitinol therefore has adramatically improved fatigue life which is highly sought after in manyapplications where cyclic stress or strain is present.

From empirical observations, it was determined that the ultimate tensilestrength (UTS) and elongation to failure influenced the wire's fatigueresistance. Further, the amount of cold work applied to the wire duringthe drawing process also has an effect on the fatigue resistance. Bycontrolling these parameters, the present invention produces a wire,ribbon, sheet or tubing having significantly improved fatigue lifeparticularly suitable for medical device applications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a graph of the effect on mean cycles to failure as a functionof the ultimate tensile strength of a cold-drawn wire.

FIG. 2 is a graph of the mean cycles to failure as a function of percentelongation of a cold-drawn wire.

FIG. 3 is a graph of the effect on mean cycles to failure based on theupper plateau stress of a heat treated wire.

FIG. 4 is a graph of the effect on mean cycles to failure based onpercent elongation of a heat treated wire.

FIG. 5 is a graph of the effect on mean cycles to failure based onultimate tensile strength of a heat treated wire.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cardiac harness made from a matrix ofwires having high fatigue life in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention in various embodiments is directed to a wire,ribbon, sheet, tubing, or like structure made of superelasticnickel-titanium alloys having improved fatigue life and processes forcreating such structures. Nickel-titanium alloys, also known as nitinol,have a variety of characteristics and behaviors based on processingconditions and composition. Products made from nitinol alloysnevertheless typically undergo a common series of processing steps.

For example, to produce commonly found structures such as wire, ribbon,tubing, or sheet, nickel and titanium charges are melted together toform an alloy ingot in a vacuum or inert atmosphere. Specifically, theconstituent components are placed in a crucible, then induction heatedor electrical arc heated in a vacuum induction melting (VIM) process orvacuum arc remelting (VAR) process, respectively. The nitinol ingotafter VIM or VAR processing has the general composition of nickel totitanium as well as trace elements of carbon, oxygen, iron, and otherimpurities. After the melting process, the nitinol ingot has littleductility, and accordingly, it is preferable to hot work the ingot toachieve a microstructure that exhibits better workability.

To move the material closer to the desired mechanical and physicalproperties, the nitinol ingot undergoes a series of cold working steps.Typically, the nitinol receives cold working in the range of 40 to 50%at each step, and is also annealed at about 600 to 800° C. for stressrelease after each cold work step. The interspersed anneal cyclesminimize work hardening of the nitinol caused by the repeated cold work.The cold working is typically performed by cold drawing for wires andribbons through a series of dies; cold rolling for sheet stock; and tubedrawing with an internal mandrel for tubes. To obtain the desiredsuperelastic or shape memory properties, the nitinol alloy is usuallyheat treated after the last cold work step at about 450 to 550° C.Further details regarding conventional nitinol processing andfabrication are disclosed in, for example, Scott M. Russell, “NitinolMelting and Fabrication,” SMST-2000 Conference Proceedings, pp. 1-9(2001), whose entire contents are hereby incorporated by reference. Atthis stage, the nitinol wire or ribbon, sheet stock, or tube has beentransformed from raw materials into a standardized, nearly finishedcondition for consumption in the industry.

As explained earlier, the transformation temperature of the nitinolseparates the austenitic phase from the martensitic phase. Typically,the transition temperature is measured by the austenite finish (A_(f))temperature, which indicates the completion of the phase transformationfrom martensite to austenite during heating. The alloy transformationtemperatures are determined by, among other factors, the ratio of nickeland titanium in the alloy. To be sure, the transformation temperaturesare extremely sensitive to very small changes in the Ni—Ti composition.As a result, the presence of impurities or trace elements aside fromnickel and titanium might unexpectedly change the transformationtemperature of the alloy.

The A_(f) temperature is commonly used as a metric in defining thecharacteristic of a nitinol device since it defines when the nitinol iscompletely in the austenitic phase. The A_(f) temperature is usuallymeasured by a technique called Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)or by a “bend and free recovery” technique. The DSC technique detectsthe heat released and absorbed during the martensitic (exothermic) andaustenitic (endothermic) transformations, respectively, and thusproduces data indicating A_(f) temperature. The bend and free recoverytechnique requires cooling the nitinol sample to a low temperature sothat it is in the martensitic phase, bending the sample to a prescribedstrain (typically 2% to 3%), and observing the temperature at which thesample returns to its original shape in the austenitic phase whenheated, thus indicating the A_(f) temperature.

Another metric for working with nitinol is the “ingot transitiontemperature.” This is commonly defined as the A_(f) temperature after a“full anneal” of the alloy. A full anneal implies that the alloy hasbeen completely stress relieved, typically at about 750° C. for 5 to 10minutes. The ingot transition temperature is usually measured by use ofa DSC. The ingot transition temperature is indicative of the chemicalcomposition of the alloy in the ingot state.

As is known in the art, heat treatment and cold work can change thetransition temperature of the alloy. For a metric that reflects theprocessing received by the alloy, the “final A_(f) temperature” is used.The final A_(f) temperature is determined by using the DSC test on thealloy after it has been shape set to its remembered shape.

The present invention in various embodiments is directed to a highfatigue life metal wire, ribbon, tubing or sheet stock. In one preferredembodiment, the composition of the nitinol alloy in the ingot stateincludes about 55.8 weight percent nickel and about 44.2 weight percenttitanium. In various alternative embodiments, the nickel composition mayrange from about 54.5 to 57.0 wt. % and everything therebetween, withthe balance titanium (i.e., 45.5 to 43.0 wt. % and everythingtherebetween). Trace elements or impurities may be present but arepreferably limited to the following approximations: iron ≦0.300 (3000ppm); copper ≦0.050 (500 ppm); oxygen ≦0.050 (500 ppm); copper ≦0.035(350 ppm); and hydrogen ≦0.003 (30 ppm). Any other single trace elementshould preferably be <0.1 weight percent. The total amount of traceelements present should be <0.4 weight percent. Furthermore, the ingottransformation temperature (A_(f)) as measured in the fully-annealedcondition by the DSC technique should preferably be about −15° C.±25° C.

Once the composition and transformation temperatures for the ingot areset as above, the ingot undergoes a sequence of cold working and annealcycles to reduce the ingot into preferably a wire, ribbon, tubing, orsheet of a desired cross-sectional area through the processing stepsexplained above.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the “final” coldwork or cold drawing step of the wire, ribbon, tubing or sheet stock islimited to less than approximately 30%, more preferably in the range ofabout 27%±3%. The “final” cold work or cold drawing step refers to thestep immediately after a full anneal of the nitinol part in which thenitinol part undergoes a cold reduction or deformation changing thenitinol part into the desired final dimensions.

A further preferred embodiment of the present invention contemplatesthat the finished wire, ribbon, tubing, or sheet stock possess anultimate tensile strength of approximately ≧150 ksi with an elongationat failure of approximately ≧15% as measured at a temperature of about23° C.±2° C. at an approximate strain rate of 0.001 per second. Morepreferably, the UTS may be ≦190 ksi and ≧150 ksi including everythingtherebetween, while the elongation at failure may be ≦40% and ≧15%including everything therebetween. These parameters are again achievedthrough the sequence of cold work and anneal cycles mentioned above.

Once the foregoing conditions are met, one embodiment of the presentinvention nitinol wire with a 0.013 inch diameter exhibited a 37%increase in fatigue resistance over a conventional nitinol wire in arotary beam fatigue test. In this test, the heat treated wire specimenwith an A_(f) temperature of 32±3° C. is gripped at the opposite endswhere one end is motor driven and where both gripped ends are paralleland co-planar. The entire specimen is held within a vertical plane withthe motor-driven end rotating to create alternating compressive andtensile strain in the specimen. The alternating strain ranged from about−0.75% to +0.75%. The specimen was also immersed in a water bath at 37°C. to approximate human body temperature. Being above the A_(f)temperature of the wire, the ambient temperature also places thesuperelastic nitinol specimen in the austenitic phase. The motor-drivenend rotated the specimen at a rate of 3,600 cycles per minute. In thistest, the standard nitinol wire with a cold work of 40%±5% failed at anaverage of about 16,560 cycles; one embodiment of the present inventionnitinol wire failed at about 22,760 cycles, which is an improvement of37% in fatigue life.

In the above testing, a standard nitinol wire was used for comparisonagainst one embodiment of the present invention. Both specimens were0.013 inch diameter wire, with the same shape-setting heat treatment,having a nominal composition of 55.8 wt. % nickel and 44.2 wt. %titanium. Both have a total trace element composition of <0.4 wt. %. Thefollowing are the differences between the standard nitinol wire versusthe present invention nitinol wire. Standard nitinol wire: 40%±5% finalcold work; ingot A_(f) temperature −15 to +15° C.; UTS ≧190 ksi,elongation at failure 2-6% at room temperature. Tested embodiment ofinvention: 27%±3% final cold work; ingot A_(f) temperature −40 to +10°C.; UTS ≧150 ksi, elongation at failure ≧15% at room temperature.

The greatest difference between the standard wire versus the presentinvention wire is the amount of final cold work, where the amount of thefinal cold work step in the present invention wire is much lower. Theexpression “final cold work” as defined earlier is intended to mean thelast cold work step bringing the part into its final dimensions, after afull anneal, and before the shape setting step where the shape memory isimparted into the alloy. From the test data, it is preferred that thefinal amount of area reduction by the cold working—such as wiredrawing—is limited to less than 30%, and more preferably in the range of27%±3% in order to help achieve the desired long fatigue life.

A coupon fatigue test was also used. The coupon test involves grippingthe opposite ends of the specimen, which has a two-dimensionalconfiguration imparted by the shape-setting treatment. The motorizedtest fixture then uniaxially tensions and releases the tension on thespecimen. This is performed in a saline bath maintained at 37° C. Thecycle rate of the test fixture is 15 cycles per second. At an aggressiveloading condition of 80% to 120% stretch ratio based on the initialgauge length of the test specimen and corresponding to strain levels ofapproximately 0.9% to 1.4%. Under this test, the standard nitinol failedafter an average of 7.3 hours (approximately 32000 cycles). Specimens ofthe present invention survived over 12 months (approximately 38 millioncycles) and up to 15.3 months (approximately 48 million cycles) withoutfailure. These empirical observations further confirmed the improvedfatigue life of the present invention alloy and processing steps.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are plots of test data generated by 0.013 inch diameternitinol wire made in accordance with the present invention. A rotationalbeam fatigue test was applied to these specimens using a 0% mean strainand an alternating strain of ±0.75%. FIG. 1 shows the influence of theultimate tensile strength (UTS) on the mean cycles to failure. FIG. 2 isa plot showing the influence of percent elongation on the mean cycles tofailure in the wire specimens. Note that the fatigue test was conductedafter the shape-setting heat treatment on the specimens, but the UTS andelongation to fatigue were measured on the wire specimen in the as-drawncondition.

FIGS. 3-5 are plots of the specimens described above under the samerotary beam fatigue test, but all properties were measured after theshape-setting heat treatment on the specimens. In FIG. 3, the upperplateau stress (from the superelastic nitinol stress-strain “flag”curve) of the superelastic nitinol alloy is plotted against the meancycles to failure. In FIG. 4, the percent elongation is plotted againstthe mean cycles to failure while in FIG. 5, the ultimate tensilestrength is plotted against the mean cycles to failure.

Based on the foregoing plots and other empirical observations, it wasdetermined that in order to achieve an improved fatigue life, it isdesirable to limit the final cold work step after the precursor cyclesof cold drawing and annealing, to less than approximately 30%, and morepreferably in the range of 27%±3%, and even down to 24%. Ideally, theultimate tensile strength should preferably be set at ≧150 ksi with anelongation at failure preferably set at ≧15%.

The tested specimens in the described rotary beam fatigue test were notpolished after the shape setting heat treatment. Therefore, theyexhibited a blue oxide surface.

The present invention nitinol wire, ribbon, tubing or sheet stock can beshape set to the desired shape through processes known in the art. Thisis usually accomplished by manipulating the nitinol wire, ribbon,tubing, or sheet into a fixture duplicating the remembered shape. Thenitinol wire, ribbon, tubing or sheet is heated to well above thealloy's martensite deformation temperature (M_(d)). For a wire, ribbon,tubing, or sheet, the shape set temperature is typically in the range of250-600° C.; the heating occurs for an average of a few minutes up to anhour, with longer times for lower temperatures and vice versa.

The cold-drawn nitinol wire embodiment is preferably heat treatedbetween 450-500° C. and preferably has a final A_(f) temperature between26° C. and 36° C. as measured by the DSC technique.

The blue oxide surface formed from the shape setting heat treatment canoptionally be removed by electropolishing. This further improves fatigueresistance. Moreover, the final A_(f) temperature of the formed wire canoptimally be adjusted by the shape setting heat treatment withoutdeviation from the scope of the present invention.

In one preferred application, the present invention high fatigue lifewire or ribbon can be constructed into a matrix or wire mesh for use asa cardiac harness for treating congestive heart failure, shown in FIG.6. The wires or ribbons may be interlocked, interwoven, or otherwisejoined together forming a sleeve. If a sheet or tube of the presentinvention high fatigue life nitinol is chosen as the foundation, then itcan be laser cut, electro-discharge machined, chemically etched, orlikewise cut to create a pattern of openings to form a matrix that isthen shaped into a sleeve also suitable for use as a cardiac harness.

In a patient with congestive heart failure, the diseased myocardiumbegins to remodel which typically manifests in the heart enlarging intoa more spherical shape. One type of treatment is to implant an externalelastic support or constraining sleeve for the myocardium. Such aconstraining sleeve, called a cardiac harness 10, is seen in FIG. 6. Inthis embodiment, the cardiac harness 10 surrounds both ventricles, fromapex to base of the heart 12. As the ventricle dilates in congestiveheart failure, outward radial pressure is applied to the cardiac harness10; conversely, the cardiac harness applies a constraining pressure onthe heart.

More important is the systole and diastole contraction and relaxation ofthe heart which apply repeated cyclical pressure on the cardiac harness10. Due to this cyclic stress, the cardiac harness should exhibit arelatively high fatigue life after implantation in the patient.Therefore, the wires forming the cardiac harness 10 are made fromsuperelastic nitinol in accordance with the present inventionembodiments and are in the austenitic phase at body temperature when noload is applied and the alloy is stress-free. When placed over the heartas shown in FIG. 6, the contact pressure between the harness 10 andheart 12 may create stress-induced martensite (SIM) in the material.Depending on the stress-strain “flag” curve of the superelastic nitinolalloy, the actual stress encountered by the nitinol wire may fall on astress plateau or may be sufficiently low to fall in the linearstress-strain range. In any event, the present invention high fatiguelife wire minimizes the possibility under such conditions of a fractureor fatigue failure in the harness. More details regarding the cardiacharness 10 may be found in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,912 to Lauet al., whose entire contents are hereby incorporated by reference.

Another medical application of the high fatigue life wire is in the areaof implantable stents. A stent implanted in a vessel behind the kneewould certainly encounter cyclic stresses and strains and long fatiguelife becomes an important consideration. Other applications include, forexample, eyeglass frames, cell-phone or radio antennas. Suchapplications expose the wire to cyclic stresses and strains, and a highfatigue life is unquestionably a valuable engineering asset.

Various modifications may be made to the present invention withoutdeparting from the scope thereof. Although individual features ofembodiments of the invention may be shown in some of the drawings andnot in others, those skilled in the art will recognize that individualfeatures of one embodiment of the invention can be combined with any orall of the features of another embodiment.

1-14. (canceled)
 15. A process for improving the fatigue life of asuperelastic metal wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing, comprising: forming aningot having a composition of approximately 54.5 to 57.0 wt. % nickelwith a balance of titanium and trace elements, with an ingot A_(f) ofapproximately −15° C.±25° C.; cold working and heat treating the ingotto form a wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing; and in a final cold workingstep, cold working the wire less than approximately 30%.
 16. The processof claim 15, wherein the trace elements in the nickel-titanium alloyingot includes approximately: ≦0.300 wt. % (3000 ppm) Fe, ≦0.050 wt. %(500 ppm) Cu, ≦0.050 wt. % (500 ppm) O, ≦0.035 wt. % (350 ppm) C, ≦0.003wt. % (30 ppm) H; and wherein a total amount of trace elements is <0.4wt. %.
 17. The process of claim 15, wherein after the final cold workingstep the process includes mounting the wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing ona fixture and shape setting the wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing atapproximately 250-600° C. for 1 to 60 minutes.
 18. The process of claim15, wherein the wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing has a fatigue life >approximately 20,000 mean cycles to failure under alternatingcompressive and tensile strain from −0.75% to +0.75% in a rotary beamtest.
 19. The process of claim 15, wherein the process includeselectropolishing the wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing.
 20. The process ofclaim 15, wherein the wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing includes an ultimatetensile strength ≧ approximately 150 ksi, and elongation at failure ≧approximately 15%, as measured at a temperature of approximately 23±2°C., at a strain rate of approximately 0.001/sec.
 21. The process ofclaim 15, wherein the wire, ribbon, sheet or tubing has a fatigue life >approximately 38 million cycles to failure under alternating, loadingand unloading forces to produce 80% to 120% stretch ratio andcorresponding to strain levels of approximately 0.9% to 1.4%. 22-23.(canceled)